ok – it’s actually a split squad day so here’s both lineups just in case your radio is playing the Pirates game!
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Month: March 2010
Remembering Puck
I don’t think we could call ourselves a Twins blog and let today pass without at least briefly noting that it was four years ago today that we lost Kirby Puckett.
There have been a lot of things written about Kirby since he passed away and not all of it positive. I don’t know what he was like away from the ballpark. I don’t know whether he did or didn’t use PEDs (though I’ve yet to see anything resembling a convincing argument that he did).
What I do know is that from the mid 1970s up until the arrival of Puckett, it was not easy being a Twins fan. Puckett (with some help from his friends) made it fun to watch the Twins again. Part of the reason was that, no matter how much fun the fans were having, it was clear Kirby was having even more fun playing the game. I’ve always thought it’s a shame more Major Leaguers don’t demonstrate the same joy out of simply being a part of the game that Puck did.
I’m sure we all have a number of favorite memories of Puckett, but I’d be willing to bet every “favorite memory” has one thing in common… I bet that in every favorite memory, Kirby (and almost everyone around him) wore a smile.
Twins to sign new TV/radio deal… and Mauer, too?
I hadn’t seen or heard anything about this in any of the “usual” online sources for Twins’ news that I read rather religiously (doesn’t mean it wasn’t there… I may have missed it), but Peter Gammons had this little nugget in his mlb.com report on the Twins:
“… regardless of the weather, the Twins will realize a significant bump in revenues with their new park. They’re about to sign a new radio and TV deal.
‘It’s not quite a Seattle deal,’ said one club official, but another says it will put the Twins within ‘the top 8-10 revenue teams,’ giving them a higher payroll than the Dodgers.”
Seriously? Although I guess maybe the whole soap opera revolving around the divorce of the Dodgers’ owner might be inhibiting the Dodgers’ payroll and, if so, maybe it’s not as big a deal as it sounds. I just assumed the Dodgers probably were one of the $100+ million payroll clubs.
I suppose it’s foolish to hope this new TV/radio deal will mean I’ll actually be able to watch/listen to Twins games in Eastern Iowa.
In any event… now that they’ve got this TV/radio contract pretty much ironed out, maybe they can make some progress on another contract issue of significant interest to the fan base.
UPDATE: Those of you who actually live in/near the Twin Cities probably can opine about the reliability of “Common Man”, but Jesse over at TwinkieTown posted a link to Common’s podcast in which he claims to have a source with a “family member with the Twins” who says a Joe Mauer contract agreement will be signed by Sunday. Eight years @ $22 mil per year plus a couple of option years. Sounds a bit like one of those “friend of a friend of a friend who has a sister who dates the janitor” kinda things to me… but who knows? We can hope, anyway.
My God, isn’t it Friday yet!? Oh… it is? COOL!
To say it has been a long week is putting it mildly, but we didn’t create this blog to give voice to our whining about our personal lives, so I’ll just say I’m REALLY glad this week is wrapping up.
So let’s talk Twins-stuff.
Yeah, I know the guys lost to Boston last night in their Grapefruit League opener and those four measly singles weren’t much to get excited about, but I’m very excited about the performances of Kevin Slowey and Pat Neshek! Slowey’s spoken openly about how his wrist feels “different”, so it was good to see him be very effective in his first two-inning stint of the spring. And, while he hasn’t posted anything yet on his blog, I can’t wait to see what “Sideshow” has to say about his first trip to the mound in almost two years, so I’ll be checking back there later.
It was interesting reading Gardy’s post-game comments, this morning, though. I get the very distinct impression than he considers his bullpen full, at this time, and he’s downplaying any expectations of having Neshek go north when camp breaks. (Although, technically, Rochester is also “north”, right?) All I know is that if Neshek is anywhere close to his old self, it’s going to be very tough to keep him off the roster.
We’ll probably try to do the GameChat thing again here today for the Red Sox’ return visit to Hammond Stadium. Since some of us actually work for a living during the day, I’m not sure how that will work out, but we’ll give it a go.
As much fun as it is to listen to games and chat a bit online as it unfolds, it’s even more fun to actually attend the spring training games! Nick Nelson of Nick’s Twins Blog will be doing just that today and mentions he will be doing some Tweeting in the process. Needless to say, I’m VERY jealous. I just keep reminding myself that my turn is coming. Less than two weeks from “JimCrikket’s Spring Training Vacation”!
I got my copy of the Twins Annual, put out by the TwinsCentric guys and Maple Street Press, in the mail this week. This is the magazine edited by “TwinsGeek” John Bonnes with articles contributed by a virutal “Who’s Who of Twins Blogging”. Nick Nelson, Seth Stohs, Parker Hageman, Howard Sinker, Josh Johnson and a number of other terrific local authors, in addition to the TwinsGeek, himself, contributed some terrific writing. If you haven’t bought your copy yet, what the heck are you waiting for???? Absolutely the best Twins magazine you’ll see all year.
Speaking of reading material, I’m patiently (OK, not so patiently) awaiting the arrival of my copy of Seth’s Minnesota Twins 2010 Prospect Handbook. I see he was expecting to mail them out to those of us who pre-ordered yesterday, so perhaps my wait is about over. I did note that half of Twins Territory apparently have received their copies already and provided reviews, while I’m sitting here waiting for mine. But I’m not impatient. I can wait. And I even promise not to write him any more harassing emails asking where my copy is. After all, I now have a blog where I can express just how PATIENTLY I’M WAITING for my dang Prospect Handbook!!!
By the way, Seth’s got a nice interview with Jesse Crain on his site today.
I guess that’s enough ranting for this morning. I feel better… even though I realize that just two days in to this whole blogging thing, nobody is listening. It’s still very therapeutic, I’m sure.
Grapefruit League Twins Opener GameChat!
Tonight’s Spring Training game between the Twins and the RedSox from Ft. Myers (at the RedSox complex) gives us the opportunity to try out the GameChat feature we’re hoping to launch during Twins games here at Knuckleballs.
To participate, just come to the blog during the game (which starts at 6:05 CT) and click on the “Discuss Now” icon at the bottom of this posting. That will (hopefully) open up a chat window. You may need to create a nickname for yourself in the window by typing /nick <yourname>. Further note: if you are having trouble with a blank popup window, try hitting the maximize option on that window – it apparently toggles it to a different window variety that may work better.
We’re hoping to make GameChat a regular feature here throughout the season.
Here’s the lineups for tonight’s Grapefruit League Twins Opener! (a little hint from Babs if she can keep this up – click on each players names for their MLB stats) If you are sadly, radioless for the game tonight, you can follow playxplay here: Spring Training Twins vs Red Sox
| Minnesota |
| Span, CF |
| Casilla, A, 2B |
| Kubel, DH |
| Cuddyer, RF |
| Jones, J, LF |
| Harris, B, 3B |
| Peterson, Br, 1B |
| Butera, C |
| Tolbert, SS |
| Blackburn, P |
| Boston |
| Ellsbury, LF |
| Pedroia, 2B |
| Ortiz, D, DH |
| Youkilis, 1B |
| Beltre, 3B |
| Scutaro, SS |
| Hermida, RF |
| Reddick, CF |
| Brown, D, C |
| Beckett, P |
Better than a Good Day Anywhere Else
I’m a baseball fan, particularly of the Minnesota Twins. I’m not a baseball analyst or any kind of expert. Just a fan.
But apparently I’m a fan who’d like to share a few of her thoughts about the Twins with more people than just her baseball-loving friends and coworkers. The first thoughts I’ll be sharing are about our intro topic, the dreaded offseason.
When the offseason first arrives, it’s nice to catch my breath, especially after a whirlwind like what was the last week or so of the Twins’ 2009 season. And sure, when I’m ready to put the season behind me there are plenty of distractions that attempt to fill the void, like football or Christmas or the Winter Olympics, but as much as I might enjoy them at the time, they’re just not the same as sitting at the ballpark with a Dome Dog (*sigh*) in one hand and my scoring notebook in the other (this is not actually a feat I can accomplish — how can I hold a pencil and napkin too?), watching nine blessed innings of my favorite baseball team.
I always have big plans for the offseason because I have a lot of things I still want to learn (remember that part about how I’m not an expert?). Such as, how is it other people I watch games with seem to have some sort of innate ability to be able to tell what type if pitch was just thrown? How have I not picked that up by now? How does everyone but me remember minute details about seemingly every single game that’s ever been played? Sometimes I think that maybe if I can just watch enough replays during the offseason I might be able to have more intelligent baseball discussions, but I always end up too busy to try the experiment.
The one good thing about the offseason is that we have something to look forward to when the long, dark winter is over. Because as the saying goes, a bad day at the ballpark is better than a good day anywhere else. Especially when stuff like in the following photo happens (and pay no mind to the uniform; he’ll always be a Twin to me).
Rumor Addict!!!!
Hey Knuckelballs!
My name is Babs and I’m an addict… Alright, as baseball fans, why are we so in love with the rumor mill? I LIVE for hot stove news about my team. I keep my eye out for news on other teams that might somehow change things in division competition. I follow every player on my team on Twitter and when we add a new player, I add them. Does Joe Mauer have a contract yet? Do we know who is going to play 3B yet? Did you see how excited Pat Neshek is to throw a ball? I’m sure that the baseball writers are glad that we are like this because it keeps people coming to websites to keep reading even when there aren’t any games or scores to follow! So when the Twin Cities rumor mill blows up because a sports reporter gets a little too excited that contracts are under discussion, is that a symptom that we are living with an unhealthy obsession? Is it contagious??? I don’t know and most of the time I don’t care because I have a ready source of the news drug that fuels my addiction. Of course, I think the obvious sensitivity to such over-reaction is most definitely a symptom of one thing – the off-season is TOOOOO long. I’m hanging on by my fingernails until that first pitch is thrown.
Of course, I don’t promise to watch the rumor mill any LESS once baseball season actually starts! 😉